Let's see... life is definitely fast-paced here. I can't say that enough! I absolutely cannot believe that November is here. I think the thing that makes is go by so quickly is the fact that friends, homework, school, and exercise is all at the same place. Everything blends together!

During the last couple of weeks, I've had crazy adventures... I'll share them with you, of course!

A couple of weekends ago, my floormate's cousin inspired my group of friends to dress up and look nice! Her cousin is still in high school, and she came up during her Homecoming weekend. We made her a paper crown that looked awesome! Anyway, we all got in our nicest clothes and did our hair and put on make up — things we wouldn't really do just to go to an 8am lecture. We realized that after a couple of months in college, there aren't really dances or formals to get all

dressed up for. Because of this, we decided to go to the Cheesecake Factory! The coolest thing about the Cheesecake Factory in SF is that it's at the top of Macy's! We had a two-hour wait, but it was worth it! (While we were waiting, we snapped a tons of photos in the Christmas section of Macy's...) After hours of waiting, we got to look at Union Square while we ate the most delicious cheesecake!

Last Friday, I went to one of the leader's houses from the New Student Retreat. I had gone on this about a month ago, so it was fun to see everyone! We're going to try to make this a monthly thing. It was definitely fun to be at someone's off-campus house instead of someone's dorm room for a change! We got to play music loudly (we would have gotten in trouble if we were in our dorm halls!) and we had a nice home-cooked meal, which I might add is very much missed! My friend Erika and I made a ginormous rice krispy treat for the pot luck! After dinner, we played a massive (and extremely competitive!) game of spoons. It involved a lot of screaming and tackling, but it was so much fun!

Afterwards, my friend and I walked back to campus. It was around 11pm when we got back on campus but I didn't want to go to sleep right away, so we spontaneously decided to lay down in this giant plaza in the middle of our campus. I've always thought it would be fun! It was sort of cold, but we had so much fun staring at the stars and talking that we didn't really care! I even saw a shooting star. It was beautiful. I think in college, it's okay to have super cliche moments with people. :)

Then, on Saturday, my friends and I went to Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk! It was a five mile walk in Golden Gate Park. It was very fun! At the registration table, two girls recognized me as part of the Freshman 15! My friend Mia was so excited that she punched me in the arm a couple of times. It's all very exciting.

Anyway, with midterms and quizzes and speeches practically every other day, it really feels good to stop and just have fun! You shouldn't forget that — but never forget to balance fun with your work either!